The Family
As we are reminded at least once or twice a film, the Fast and Furious franchise is all about family. The Toretto clan continues to expand, but there are a few who have not been featured in films for some time.
With the absence of Brian, there might be a shift in focus on the tribulations of some of our other favorites, like Tyrese Gibson’s Roman or Ludacris’s inspired hacker Tej. Lucas Black, who featured in Tokyo Drift and very briefly in Furious 7, has already signed on to return to the franchise, which means that we could see more of his “cowboy” Sean Boswell and the interaction between him and his adoptive family. With the addition of brilliant hacker Mia, who seems to have joined the team at the end of Furious 7, there are all kinds of combinations we could have that don’t have to focus on the previously central characters of Dom and Brian.
Not that Dom is going to go anywhere, of course. He’s the patriarch of this makeshift family, though his character trajectory might not have much further to go. Given that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) has her memory back, the next logical step for the couple would be a child – and can you imagine Dom as a daddy? I certainly can.